White House: Health Care Repeal Wont Happen

In case it wasn’t already clear, the White House announced Thursday that President Barack Obama would veto legislation aimed at repealing his signature health care overhaul.

The White House issued a statement of administration policy indicating that Obama “strongly opposes” a bill introduced by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) that would repeal the overhaul, which was signed into law last year.

Cantor’s legislation “would explode the deficit, raise costs for the American people and businesses, deny an estimated 32 million people health insurance, and take us back to the days when insurers could deny, limit or drop coverage for any American,” the statement said.

“If the president were presented with H.R. 2, he would veto it,” the statement added.

Not that such legislation has a real shot at getting to Obama’s desk: While the House may have the votes to pass a repeal, it lacks the votes in the Senate. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said as much Wednesday, when he summed up the House GOP repeal effort as “symbolic.”

“They understand that this is not going to land on the president’s desk,” Gibbs said during a briefing. “This is a bit of huff and puff.”